It is well known in the medical community, and in particular, in hospitals, to provide centrally located medication and supply dispensing stations, such as wall cabinets, manually secured patient cassette drawers, and automated dispensing machines. Such generally accessible stations serve several functions including the distribution of medicines and supplies to patients. These stations work well for their intended purpose. However, there are disadvantages to such centralized stations. One disadvantage is that after a patient is discharged, the medications are frequently not retrieved from the station, and consequently remain in the station. These easily accessible medications are often either stolen or mixed in the station with medications for other patients.